Think piece: ethics for the virtual researcher

Abstract

ABSTRACT In ethics, there are profound distinctions between conducting research online and traditional face-to-face research methods. Some of the differences often appear overwhelming for individuals in the early stages of their research career due to the introduction of new technical terminology related to the online environment. Whilst ethics in the virtual world is complex due to complete confidentiality and anonymity becoming increasingly out of reach, there are ways to mitigate against these new challenges. When applying for ethical approval, I argue that students should consider how their online research challenges ethical norms for obtaining informed consent, determine what is public and private data, and define confidentiality and anonymity in the virtual world. The author is a former PhD candidate, and some of the themes discussed in this think-piece presented themselves in the data collection of online surveys. Furthermore, the author has sometimes observed an absence of thought to online ethics from dissertation students when applying online methodologies. Thus, this piece attempts to stimulate thinking in this area and is aimed at individuals involved in the submission of ethics for dissertation projects.